By Zach "Rubber Chicken" Shephard

This month’s Premier Series Qualifier came at an interesting time (no, I don’t mean 11:00am MDT – that’s not interesting). The PSQ was held only one short week before the 2005 The Lord Of The Rings Online TCG Territorial Open Championship, and that means we get a good look at the current meta before the big tournament.

Last month, Dwarves dominated the PSQ scene, taking the majority of the top eight slots. This month saw much more variety, but if there was a single Free Peoples culture to beat, it was Gandalf. Everyone’s second-favorite wizard (come on, Saruman is cooler) showed up in four of the top eight spots in the April PSQ, including the #1 deck, in which he fought alongside the soldiers of Gondor. There was a nice mix of Shadow sides to be had, but the winning deck was the only one in the top eight to use Sauron Orcs.

I must say, I was most delighted to see a Gondor/Gandalf build winning this month’s PSQ, as that’s my favorite combination of Free Peoples cultures to play. However, this deck isn’t like anything I’ve ever used. So, to help me out in writing a review, I’ve called for some expert advice from Chris “CaptainClownshoe” Tubman, the wielder of the deck in question. He was more than happy to help me out in this interview format, and I’m most appreciative of his efforts. The following is a dramatization of the conversation that occured, using professional actors hired by Worlds Apart (my role was played by Brad Pitt, as he was the only person with the physique and good looks to pull it off).

Zach: Chris, how exactly does the Free Peoples half of your deck work?

Chris: The fellowship is a version of Gondor/Gandalf Saved From the Fire that many have played, including MonkeyUnit and KoreanStructure. It's my own spin on it. Notice there are more companions than the limit of nine. I have included "tech" companions like Derufin, Faramir, Son of Denethor, and Garrison of Gondor. Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith is also included for more filtration – if all goes well, he pulls a card at site three and then gets burnt.

You'll notice there are some strange card choices. The absence of Noble Leaders is conspicuous, I'm sure. The reason: I don't have any online. Also you'll notice one copy of Sharpen Your Swords. Again, I only had one. I threw this fellowship together on Friday night, kind of last minute, so what can you do?

One of my favorite cards, and a card that saved my can in several matches, is the Footman's Armor. Versus swarm decks like Merboy’s, you throw that on Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms with Narsil, Blade of the Faithful. With four fortifications and a hand full of cards, he is nearly impossible to overwhelm, especially with the help of the Defender+1 Garrison of Gondor.

Other than that, the deck is pretty basic. When you draw Saved From the Fire in your opening hand, burn Gandalf, Leader of Men to grab Sent Back, Gandalf, Leader of the Company, and another Saved From the Fire. Then next site burn the Ranger of Ithilien to grab Aragorn, Elessar Telcontar, Anduril, Flame of the West and Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith.

The fellowship just takes a beating and singles while setting up, and then can pull off some late-game triples with the help of Out of the High Airs, the fortifications, and Anduril, Flame of the West to play Neekerbreekers' Bog for healing.

Zach: Roaming Sauron Orcs is a Shadow strategy that was quickly dismissed by many high-level players when it was first introduced back in King Block, but has recently proven itself to be quite the potent force. What is it that makes the Sauron Orcs work in the current meta, and what’s the general strategy behind the deck?

Chris: Well, the card that really makes the shadow tick is Rank and File - it’s what I like to call the dark-side Sudden Fury. Getting one down early is huge, since if your minions are losing, you can build up tokens on it; if they’re winning, you can drop them in the regroup phase to get your tokens. Also, Shagrat, Captain of Cirith Ungol and the little cheap Uruks can exert in the regroup phase to put an extra token on it.

Grond, Hammer of the Underworld is another card that is just excellent. It’s so huge in taking away a fellowship’s resources, and can net you wins in strange situations like exhausted Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms with Narsil, Blade of the Faithful. To complement the removal that Grond, Hammer of the Underworld affords, I ran three Gate Sentries, since they can remove conditions in the manuever phase – another great card in the Hobbit and Knight match-ups.

But the heart of the deck, as most people know, is the Advance Orcs; or, as I like to call them, The Three Stooges. Larry can exert to make another roaming minion strength+3, Curly makes them fierce, and Moe makes all of your roaming Sauron minions damage+1. And, of course, the Advance Scout is probably the most powerful minion, allowing you to make your minions roaming after site six.

Zach: Were there any Free Peoples or Shadow strategies that were particularly difficult for your deck to get past?

Chris: Well, the Shadow seems to do well versus Hobbits and Knights, as those were the two games I got kills in. It can hold its own against Dwarves and Rohan, netting some stops, but kills are difficult. Honestly, one of the toughest matches was Petit-scarab's Ent deck with Inspiration, Treebeard, Keeper of the Watchwood blasting my Rank and File, and recurring Sent Back. The other match-up that was particularly difficult was Merboy’s fellowship. He started Derufin so I couldn't keep my Grond, Hammer of the Underworld on the table, and ran a load of pumps. He also had multiple Hadafangs, Company of Archers, and Seclusions, so I couldn't keep my Rank and File the table.

Shadow-wise, I lucked out and played stuff that was beatable, but tough. I just played well and made some gutsy triples when I needed to. Honestly, I haven't played the fellowship enough to really know which Shadows would be the toughest, but it has answers to everything (as long as you don't get pummeled too hard early when you’re flooding the pool).

Zach: The 2005 Online Territorial Open Championship is taking place this weekend; what kind of decks do you expect to see regularly?

Chris: I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one. I would expect about anything. The meta is fairly level right now, and it seems like anything can win, as I proved on Saturday. But you will see the typical power decks like Knights, Dwarves, Southron Archery, and Corsairs.

Zach: And what deck do you plan on using at the TOC?

Chris: Unfortunately, my local TOC is the same day here in Michigan. Somehow I feel I have a better chance at a bye there than online, so I won't be playing. As to what I'll play in the MI TOC, I can't divulge that, but I'm gunning for Emir (the incumbent world champ), who is sure to attend.

Zach: Thanks for the help, Chris, and best of luck at your TOC this weekend!

Now, as far as the rest of the PSQ’s top eight goes, there isn’t a discernable pattern like there was last month. This makes my job a little tougher, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s a good thing – variety is part of what makes the game fun, and we had a load of that this month. The following is a list of the top eight finishers, with downloadable links to their deck files, and a brief description of what they played.

1. CaptainClownshoe - Free Peoples: Gandalf/Gondor Saved From the Fire. Shadow: Roaming Sauron Orcs.
2. Judas - Free Peoples: Dwarf/Smeagol. Shadow: Southron Archery.
3. _wuzek - Free Peoples: Gandalf/Ents Saved From the Fire, Inspiration. Shadow: Easterlings.
4. Petit-scarab - Free Peoples: Gandalf-culture Saved From the Fire. Shadow: Gollum wounding, Sauron, Balrog.
5. PaulEwenstein - Free Peoples: Elves/Eowyn, Lady of Ithilien wounding. Shadow: Forest Nazgul.
6. lyonscc - Free Peoples: Gondor/Gandalf. Shadow: Possession Orcs.
7. theonerob - Free Peoples: Sudden Fury Hobbits. Shadow: Forest Nazgul.
8. Merboy - Free Peoples: Elf Events. Shadow: Orc Swarm.

So what will we see at the TOC tomorrow? Your guess is as good as mine. As Mr. Tubman pointed out, we can always count on seeing the usual power decks (Knights, Dwarves, Corsairs, etc.), but the PSQ has proven that there are plenty of different strategies capable of winning high-level events today. As with last month, I’m going to go ahead and predict Gondor/Gandalf again – not only because it’s my personal favorite fellowship, but because it had such an excellent showing this month. On the Shadow side, we’ll surely see many players trying the roaming Sauron Orcs out, along with some Forest Nazgul (which are rising in popularity, having taken two of the top eight slots this month).

To finish things off for this review, let’s take a look at the deck that won it all – Chris “CaptainClownshoe” Tubman’s Gondor/Gandalf with Sauron Orcs.

Ring-bearer and One Ring
Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms
The One Ring, The Ring of Rings

Free Peoples (35)
1 Gandalf, Leader of Men (Starting)
1 Ranger of Ithilien (Starting)
1 Gandalf, Leader of the Company
1 Radagast, The Brown
1 Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith
1 Aragorn, Elessar Telcontar
1 Faramir, Son of Denethor
1 Elendil, The Tall
1 Derufin
1 Garrison of Gondor
4 Saved From the Fire
1 Narsil, Blade of the Faithful
3 Sapling of the White Tree
1 Seeing Stone of Orthanc
1 Scroll of Isildur
1 Sent Back
1 Glamdring, Foe-hammer
1 Gandalf's Staff, Ash-staff
2 New-awakened
1 Terrible and Evil
1 Anduril, Flame of the West
1 Out of the High Airs
1 Footman's Armor
1 Stone Tower
1 Citadel of the Stars
1 Sharpen Your Swords
1 Knight's Spear
1 Garrison of Osgiliath
1 Sixth Level

Shadow (35)
2 Flames Within
3 Rank and File
4 Advance Marauder
3 Advance Scout
3 Advance Captain
3 Troll of Cirith Gorgor
2 Ithil Stone
1 Orc Assault Band
2 Shagrat, Captain of Cirith Ungol
3 Advance Regular
3 Gate Sentry
3 Cirith Ungol Sentinel
1 Orc Cutthroat
2 Grond, Hammer of the Underworld

Adventure Deck
(0) Crags of Emyn Muil
(1) Neekerbreekers' Bog
(1) Cavern Entrance
(1) Ettenmoors
(2) Caras Galadhon
(2) Helm's Gate
(3) Pinnacle of Zirakzigil
(3) The Prancing Pony
(3) Trollshaw Forest

-Zach Shephard